It was a "punk" set-up by James O'Keefe, the same guy who famously dressed up as a pimp to interview members of ACORN...
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Remember, he dressed up as a pimp to interview members of ACORN.

For chrissakes, you're the WASHINGTON POST! Get the story straight please!

O'Keefe NEVER "dressed up as a pimp to interview members of ACORN." Never. Not once. Ever. It was a hoax. Period. Just like his criminal operation at Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in New Orleans (for which he is still on probation), and the CNN sexual assault/wiretap scheme.

How many times are you guys gonna fall for it and keep misreporting the same damaging, inaccurate story?

For example, here's former MA Attorney General Scott Harshbarger's report [PDF] from December of 2009:

Although Mr. O'Keefe appeared in all videos dressed as a pimp, in fact, when he appeared at each and every office, he was dressed like a college student - in slacks and a button down shirt.

For the record, when you issue your swift correction (which I hope you'll do immediately and transparently and loudly), before you make yet another mistake, as the NYTimes did when issuing theirs, O'Keefe also did not "represent himself as a pimp" to ACORN workers either. He represented himself as the boyfriend of the girl/prostitute (played by Hannah Giles) trying to save her FROM an abusive pimp who was trying to kill her.

Jesus. It's not the first time WaPo has misreported on this matter. But we figured they'd have figured out the scam by now. Apparently not.

Please issue a correction immediately. Thank you. And good lord. (This is how James O'Keefe, Andrew Breitbart, and the rest of their crew get away with lying again and again and again. Incredible.)

P.S. If you want to report on the story --- in your own MD backyard, Washington Post --- why don't you cover the fact that O'Keefe has now violated Maryland's Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act again and again (and now, likely, the terms of his federal criminal probation), as we laid out yesterday, and the fact that MD law enforcement officials seem to be doing absolutely nothing about it?!

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UPDATE 10/1/10, 12:50pm PT: It has been nearly 48 hours since the Petri/Milbank story was posted containing the egregious mistakes noted above, and yet there has still be no correction. Over the past 24 hours we've notified both @Milbank & @Petridishes via Twitter multiple times; have notified WaPo's "Corrections" address (Corrections@WashPost.com); and have notified their Ombudsman Andy Alexander who has responded with Alexandra Petri's email address so we could contact her that way directly, which we have. And yet, still no correction for the blatantly innaccurate reporting.

During those same 24 hours, Milbank has posted one item, and Petri has posted two --- one as recently as two hours ago, another a few hours earlier than that today --- so we know they are both around to make the corrections. They have apparently chosen to not correct their inaccurate reporting.

Next time you are told how the "professionals in the MSM fact-check their work, but bloggers don't," please feel free to keep this incident handy.

UPDATE 10/1/10, 3:46pm PT: Incredible. Petri has just posted yet a third item on Milbank's blog without bothering to correct the O'Keefe "pimp" story. I've left a comment on every one of her blog items since, pointing back to this article and asking her what gives and if she ever intends to correct her blatant inaccuracies. Hope you'll consider doing same until she accurately and transparently corrects the story. Milbank's blog is here.

UPDATE 10/3/10, 11:36am PT: It has now been four days since Dana Milbank allowed Alexandra Petri's complete inaccuracies about Rightwing con-man James O'Keefe and ACORN to be posted on his WaPo blog without correction. The paper's corrections editor, their ombudsman and both Milbank and Petri have been notified many times. They continue to appear not to give a damn that they are blatantly misinforming their readers and the nation.

UPDATE 10/5/10:SUCCESS! After nearly a week of prodding, Petri has finally issued a correction! Though even older WaPo misreports, by other journalists, on this same matter, are still unaddressed. Full details now posted here...

What I find interesting about this, beyond how these guys are still at it and have not been totally discredited and ignored by MSM yet, is how well supported/funded they are.

Look at the time and money they are spending on just trying to "punk" - I would say smear and frame, one journatlist. They've got long-term planning, memos, locations, secret tapes...and while all this could be done by a few motivated people in their spare time, these guys are clearly employed to do this stuff. For their funders, they are good return on investment, as they took out ACORN for likely just $50-$100k funding. Send a couple kids on the road for a few months and voila, no more Democratic voter registration.

Once again, that which is represented to us as grass roots "expose" by young rabble rousers is simply attacks on the regular folks and honest journalists by rich people looking out for their richy rich interests.

To be fair, it was Alexandra Petri at Milbank's WaPo blog. Not Milbank himself. Though if a guest blogger posts something inaccurate at The BRAD BLOG, I do take responsibility for it (and try to correct quickly if appropriate) since it's my name on the darn thing!

That I posted this item about 6 hours ago, and neither Petri nor Milbank has yet to make a correction is pretty poor. (Though not as poor as having made the gross error in the first place after all this time! Do they live in a cave? Or just Fox "News"?)

"....why don't you cover the fact that O'Keefe has now violated Maryland's Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act again and again (and now, likely, the terms of his federal criminal probation), as we laid out yesterday, and the fact that MD law enforcement officials seem to be doing absolutely nothing about it?!"

Brad, it appears that you have failed to properly shepherdize the Maryland code. Just because a law is on the books, doesn't mean that it is valid as written. You must also see what the courts have said about that law.

If you take the time to read what the courts have said on that law, you would find that your view is incorrect. There must be a reasonable expectation of privacy BEFORE that law can be used.

Here is the latest example of what the courts have said. Judge Pitts threw out the wiretapping charges against Anthony Graber.

"The judge ruled that Maryland's wire tap law allows recording of both voice and sound in areas where privacy cannot be expected."

If you take the time to read what the courts have said on that law, you would find that your view is incorrect. There must be a reasonable expectation of privacy BEFORE that law can be used.

Oookay, Mark. I'll bite. In which situation that I've covered --- the private meetings with ACORN workers, the private phone call with a CNN reporter, or on a private boat --- was there not a "reasonable expectation of privacy"?

"Oookay, Mark. I'll bite. In which situation that I've covered --- the private meetings with ACORN workers, the private phone call with a CNN reporter, or on a private boat --- was there not a "reasonable expectation of privacy"?"

You have never made the case that the courts would accept your premise that these are "private" acts?

Seriously? That's what you got? For the record, I'm not an attorney, I'm a journalist. The onus is not on me to issue some sort of arcane legal argument when pointing out that someone appears to have violated the law, again. The same law, mind you, which at least two state Attorneys General have already highlighted as most likely having been violated by O'Keefe. (And that he is also currently being sued under by a private citizen.)

All of that is particularly pathetic, given that you accused me of having "failed to properly shepherdize the Maryland code" along with the lecture:

If you take the time to read what the courts have said on that law, you would find that your view is incorrect. There must be a reasonable expectation of privacy BEFORE that law can be used.

That's all well and good and a fine lecture, but when I ask YOU, in return, which incident that I highlighted --- the private meetings w/ ACORN workers, the private phone call with a CNN reporter, or the meeting on a private boat --- you believed to NOT offer a "reasonable expectation of privacy", you charge ME with having "never made the case that the courts would accept your premise that these are 'private' acts", rather than pointing out a one of them that did NOT offer a "reasonable expectation of privacy".

To use your phrasing, Mark, it appears that you have "failed to properly shepherdize" the Maryland code, the apparently illegal acts referenced, the independent official investigations already on the record, and your own commentary here in your zeal to offer your usual, knee-jerk partisan apologia.

Lola, I am not trying to rip Brad a new one, I am trying to get him to realize that when it comes to the law, it is not black and white.

He writes in these types of absolutes such as this "....O'Keefe has now violated Maryland's Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act again and again....".

He thinks that citing a law is all he has to do to prove his premise. Sorry, but that isn't how it works. He also must shepherdize.

Now if it seems that we are combative between Brad and I, blame that on Brad. He can't ever seem to take any type of correction without some smart-assed remark. And then he NEVER admits that he was wrong, he just runs away.

You may be shocked to learn that I do not have the time to read all of the comments posted her at BRAD BLOG. If I did, and if I responded to them all, I'd never have any actual new stories.

Next, it seems you need to understand the difference between my being "wrong" and your opinion that I'm wrong. Where demonstrable evidence is presented to show that I've gotten something wrong, I'm happy to correct the record. It is my opinion, however, and the opinions of the former MA Attorney General and the current CA Attorney General, among others (who cited the same laws that I did) that O'Keefe seems to have violated the MD wiretap law as I spelled out in more detail in my original article on the matter.

You are welcome to disagree with my assessment, and to detail the reason for your disagreements with me here in comments. I don't find it necessary to respond to every one of your disagreements, any more than I find it necessary to file a legal treatise, examining each and every possible loophole that O'Keefe and his attorneys might try to exploit in order to dodge taking personal accountability for having seemingly broken the law.

As noted previously, I'm a journalist, not an attorney. Clearly you are, and wish to post legal arguments in defense of wrong-doers. I have enough confidence in what I report that I am able to both report it AND allow readers, like yourself, to offer contrary points of view if they like.

If you regard that as "run[ning] away", so be it. I regard it as a courtesy to readers like yourself. Your welcome.

Oh, and one more thing, I won't tell you, as an anonymous commenter who needn't take any responsibility for the accuracy of what he writes, what you "must" do, if you'll not tell me, someone who stands behind everything posted here, under my own actual name, what I "must" do. Even if you think it'll better help to protect the criminals and scofflaws that you seem to be willing to say anything to keep from taking personal responsibility for their actions.

"Next, it seems you need to understand the difference between my being "wrong" and your opinion that I'm wrong."

No, it is not my opinion, it is the opinions of the courts that you have refuse to address.

"It is my opinion, however, and the opinions of the former MA Attorney General and the current CA Attorney General, among others (who cited the same laws that I did) that O'Keefe seems to have violated the MD wiretap law as I spelled out in more detail in my original article on the matter."

You rely on the strict reading of Maryland code to make the claim that two party concent is required.

On the other hand, I have made the argument that there also must be a "reason expectation of privacy".

In discussion #7944, I made this statement:

"As we saw in Maryland, ACORN abandoned it's suit. Was it because of Maryland's case law such as Malpas v. State?"

In the Maryland case of Malpas v. State, the courts ruled that there must be a "reason expectation of privacy".

Now, let's apply those arguments to the case that was mentioned in VR letter of July 4.

"Maryland’s privacy statutes have been used to prosecute people for one party taping without any criminal intent. In fact, in a recent case, a motorist named Anthony Graber was charged for video taping a plainclothes policeman making a traffic stop. Mr. Graber’s house was searched, his computers were seized and he was jailed after he posted the video on YouTube."

If we apply your argument, Mr. Graber would be found guilty of all 4 counts of wiretapping. If my argument is correct, the charges would be dismissed because there was not a reason expectation of privacy.

What happened in this case? The indictment was overturned by the courts. Mr. Graber will not stand trial for a single count of wiretapping.

"Even if you think it'll better help to protect the criminals and scofflaws that you seem to be willing to say anything to keep from taking personal responsibility for their actions."

Of course, I have never made such a statement, you made it up. I am simply pointing out the way the law works. But since you are making this a habit, how many other times have you made things up to support your arguments?